Obama could and should withdraw the false charges against the Five

Affirms Ricardo Alarcón in a conference with the national and foreign press

Deisy Francis Mexidor

“OBAMA could and should withdraw the false charges on which our five compañeros were framed,” affirmed Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, during the launch of a six-volume publication – translated into Spanish – of the 12 Amicus Brief documents asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of the anti-terrorist Cubans, prisoners in that country for more than 10 years.

During an earlier conference with the national and accredited international press at the José Martí Memorial – Alarcón explained that the U.S. president has “the authority to end this situation” at any time, because it is within his powers.

“President Barack Obama, who is a good lawyer,” he said, “knows that perfectly well, particularly given that he specialized in Constitutional Law.”

In that context, he argued that the U.S. constitution gives the president legal authority to pardon, overturn the sentence, reduce or modify it, and withdraw charges.

However, if the current White House occupant makes no statement to that effect, “we are hoping that the Supreme Court permits the review demanded by virtually all of humanity,” he stated.

The Amicus briefs sent to the Supreme Court demonstrate the universal interest in this cause, commented the likewise member of the Political Bureau, recalling that this is an unprecedented case, given that the documents contain the signatures of 10 Nobel Prize winners, legal and parliamentary organizations and public figures from all over the world.

Alarcón also mentioned that the decision of the Organization of American States (OAS) to overturn the resolution expelling Cuba from that mechanism in 1962, constitutes a very important victory for Latin America, but confirmed that this decision will not change Cuba’s opinion of that organization or alter the island’s decision not to rejoin the OAS.